Clau de Nell: Vineyards
There are nearly 10 hectares of vineyards in total, the majority of the vines enjoying a hill-top position, some distance from the course of the Loire itself. The domaine can be found right at the very eastern periphery of the Anjou vineyard, close to Doué-la-Fontaine (with its superb zoo), and directly west of Saumur. The soils are silt and clay, and although perfectly good for the vine the vast majority of the surrounding landscape is given over to arable agriculture; this seems to be par for the course in the more peripheral parts of the Anjou and Saumur appellations.
The initial vineyard as acquired included just 7.8 hectares of vines, starting with Grolleau on 1.8 hectares. Here there are 1.1 hectares of vines aged more than 70 years, the rest aged over 90 years, the vineyard subjected to gobelet pruning. The largest part of the vineyard is given over to Cabernet Franc though, this variety occupying 5 hectares. These vines are largely aged 30 to 45 years, although there is a small plot aged about ten years, and they are pruned in the Guyot simple fashion. In addition there is 1 hectare of Cabernet Sauvignon, these vines being 60 years old, and trained in a gobelet fashion again. As indicated in my introduction, there is also 2.5 hectares of Chenin Blanc due to come online in the next few years.
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